boy fell. The protectress goddess Minerva managed to stay the boy in the air and give him wings. She changed Perdix into a partridge. The bird keeps low to the ground, fearing high places in remembrance of his uncle. Minervas compassion towards Perdix is a clear example of Bachofens thought of matrilineal duty. The female has the natural instinct to protect and nurture. The male child has a large dependence towards their mother. Minerva was exercising her power as a mother. The myth of Io shows a dominance of Zeus over the women. This patriarchal society is thought to be a response to the overcompensation of the childhood male need for his mother. Freud was deeply influenced by the transition from matriarchy to patriarchy. He used this infantile love felt by a male child to his mother to explain the sexual tension in that relationship. As the male ages he maintains this sexual attraction to the mother figure. In the child-mother stage of the relationship, the mother has the love and protection for the child. The child sees this differently and develops his ideas about sexuality from his mother. He sees the female as the kind, caring partner. Even in a matriarchal society the men were not denied ways in which to act without female supervision. Men were trusted to hunt, fish, gather foods, mind flocks and herds, and help defend against tribal invaders. These were things that are seen as masculine in a patriarchal society. By allowing men to act in these roles, women put themselves at a place of inferiority...
